The acquisition sees Platform, also based in Scotland, become part of Muckle Media Group, with Platform MD Jane Cumming and director Jenny Macpherson joining the group board.

The new entity has a team of 12 with a combined annual turnover of more than £750,000. Platform’s team is to eventually work from Muckle Media’s offices in Edinburgh or Inverness.

The aim is to grow turnover to £2.8m by 2020. Muckle Media Group MD Nathalie Agnew told PRWeek that expansion will be through a combination of acquisitions and opening new offices.

Growth will focus on the central belt of Scotland, following the opening of an Edinburgh office last year. The company also expects to open its first office south of the border in 2016.

Agnew said: "In the short term, we want to build the business further in Scotland. We’ve had a lot of momentum in recent months, particularly in Scotland. In the medium term, we want to expand across the country and become a go-to regional agency."

She highlighted the fact that existing clients GetTaxi and Entrepreneurial Spark are served on a UK-wide basis.

The firm said Muckle Media’s media relations, social media marketing and comms experience for corporate, consumer, public and third sector and tech firms will complement Platform’s PR and public affairs expertise in renewable energy and food and drink. Platform PR's clients including Marine Harvest and Gordon & MacPhail whisky.

Agnew said: "I’ve long respected Jane, Jenny and their colleagues at Platform PR and look forward to welcoming them to our team. I’m certain a number of our clients will benefit from their senior counsel and I can’t wait to work together as we shape the future of Muckle Media Group."

Cumming said: "Things won’t change for our existing clients, with Jenny, I and the Platform team continuing to lead on their accounts, but we’re relishing the opportunity to work with a new team and share skills and best practice. They’re a very talented bunch of people and we’ve already been working together very successfully on some projects."

The Platform PR acquisition was self-funded, said Angew, and will be paid over a period of three years.